Saturday Samplers book group will discuss Cathy Day’s novel, The Circus in Winter, on Saturday, October 5, at 3:30 p.m. in the library. Ms. Day currently teaches in the English Department of Ball State University, but at one time was an instructor at The College of New Jersey. A native of Indiana, she set her first book, The Circus in Winter, in her hometown of Peru (fictionalized as Lima, Indiana) which had an interesting history as the winter home of a … Continue reading →

Edmund de Waal’s family memoir, The Hare with Amber Eyes, will be the topic of the next book discussion by Bernardsville Library’s book group, Saturday Samplers. Saturday Samplers meets Saturday, July 13th, at 3:30 p.m. in the small meeting room, and new members are encouraged to attend. The book’s title refers to one of the 264 netsuke which the author inherited after this collection of Japanese carvings was passed down through several generations of the fabulously wealthy Ephrussi family. By … Continue reading →

A memoir of his youth in Ghana from the current president of the nation, My First Coup d’Etat: and Other True Stories from the Lost Decades of Africa is the next selection for Bernardsville Library’s book group, Memoirs and Coffee. My First Coup d’Etat will be discussed on Tuesday, June 25, at 10:30 a.m. in the library. Memoirs and Coffee is open to new members who may borrow copies of the book at the circulation desk. Written by John Dramani Mahama, President of … Continue reading →

Bernardsville Public Library’s Collection Advisory Team (CAT) has just produced a new roster of recommended reading for our patrons. These books are featured on shelving within the New Fiction area and may be borrowed immediately. A blend of fiction, including thrillers, mysteries, and romance, is currently on display there. The Collection Advisory Team consists of members of the community who are active library members willing to make suggestions for the library’s collection development. Their collaboration with our librarians enables Bernardsville Public … Continue reading →

British novelist and historian Jason Goodwin has confected a truly memorable detective series featuring Yashim the eunuch, who lives in the unforgettable setting of 1830’s Istanbul. Yashim moves freely between the world of the palace – the Sultan, government functionaries, the royal harem – and the colorful and dangerous city streets crammed with spice markets, vendors, and a cross-pollination of world travellers. Intrigue and mystery are everywhere, and Goodwin uses all the tricks in the book to keep the reader engaged. … Continue reading →

Monica Holloway’s memoir, Driving With Dead People, will be discussed on May 4th at 3:30 p.m. by Bernardsville Public Library’s book group, Saturday Samplers. The observation that some people ought never to become parents certainly applies here as the author reveals a childhood of parental abuse and neglect that proved shocking to the people who knew her family and later read her memoir. Some of the abuse from her parents was verbal, some psychological, some physical, some violent, yet those in her hometown … Continue reading →

In the 2012 memoir The Cost of Hope, Amanda Bennett writes about life, love and death as she experienced them in her marriage to her late husband Terence Foley. Recollections of their first meeting in China, stories of raising children and growing careers – the normal things in marriage – are counterbalanced by her story of her husband’s long-term struggle with illness and the confusing system of healthcare they encountered. The Cost of Hope has been described as a thought-provoking, affecting memoir … Continue reading →

Bernardsville Public Library book group, Saturday Samplers, will attend author Mark Di Ionno’s talk on Saturday, April 6th, in the Community Room of the library. The book group has just finished reading his new book, The Last Newspaperman, an acclaimed piece of historical fiction set entirely in New Jersey. Mr. Di Ionno is an award-winning reporter for The Star-Ledger and has a lot to say about the newspaper business. The Last Newspaperman recounts the life and journalistic exploits of fictional reporter Fred Haines, … Continue reading →

Saturday Samplers, Bernardsville Library’s book group, will attempt to crack the perplexing puzzle inherent in Daphne du Maurier’s suspense novel, My Cousin Rachel, when the group meets Saturday, March 2nd, at 3:30 p.m. Best known for her novel Rebecca, British author Daphne du Maurier also excelled at short fiction. Her wonderful short stories, The Birds and Don’t Look Now, were made into motion pictures, as were many of her books. Conflicting points of view and misunderstandings abound in her stories, … Continue reading →

Memoirs and Coffee, one of Bernardsville Library’s book groups, will discuss Lynn Povich’s The Good Girls Revolt, on Tuesday, Jan. 22, at 10:30 a.m. in the Community Room. Copies of the book are now available and new members are invited to attend. The Good Girls Revolt recounts the story of a movement for female workers’ rights at Newsweek in the 1960’s when women were deemed suitable only for the mail … Continue reading →